US-led forces have recovered a letter they believe was addressed to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among his followers and the incompetence of leaders in his terror network, the military said today. […]
But it also speaks of low morale, weakening support for the insurgency, and the incompetence of many militant leaders, the statement said.
Well, that would seem to be the point of an attritional strategy. There may be an unlimited supply of jihadis, but there’s far from an unlimited supply of competent ones. This is a factor that has destroyed military organizations far more impressive than the Caliphascists, were constant combat losses of trained personal drags down the overall competence of the organization and the troops in the field continue to make the same mistakes their predecessors did. Unfortunately it’s a slow and gradual effect, without any grand, final battle to put an end to it.
President Chavez once again affirmed that his government is taking Venezuela towards socialism, a socialism that still needed to be constructed for the 21st Century. Rival May Day marches took place again in Caracas and ended without incident.
“It is impossible that we will achieve our goals with capitalism, nor is it possible to find an intermediate path… I invite all of Venezuela to march on the path of socialism of the new century. We must construct a new socialism of the 21st century,” said Chavez his speech at the end of the traditional May 1st workers’ day march.
Chavez had just returned from Cuba earlier that day, where his government and that of Cuba signed 49 cooperation agreements. In allusion to his visit, Chavez said that the Cuban revolution “vibrates to the same rhythm” as Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution and that the changes have just barely begun.
I’m sure that the pro-dictator factions will say that “21st Century” Socialism will be all the good parts of 20th Century Socialism without all that mass murder, ecological devastation and economic failure.